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The Sacro Monte di Crea is a Roman Catholic sanctuary in the comune of Serralunga di Crea, Piedmont. It is reached via a steeply ascending route which winds through a wooded natural park, whose flora was catalogued by the Casalese photographer and polymath Francesco Negri. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Construction began in 1589 around an existing sanctuary which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and whose creation is traditionally attributed to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli around 350 AD. Eusebius is also said to have installed the statue of the Madonna which is still venerated in the sanctuary.
The chapels dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary were positioned around the 1000 years old Marian sanctuary on the highest of the hills of Basso Monferrato. As time passed the initial scheme of the monumental layout was altered on a number of occasions and in 1820 significant restoration work began after its partial destruction.
Since 1980, woods and some agricultural land surrounding the Sacro Monte have been preserved as the Parco naturale del Sacro Monte di Crea, whose area is 34 hectares where visitors can admire some plant species no longer widely found elsewhere.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.